Our concern for the plight of consumers trapped by the lack of information relating to the sale of moveable property is shared by the authorities. A firm of consultants, Foley, Hoag & Eliot, in liaison with Professor Thomas Johnson of York University, Toronto, along with Mr Leon Rockcliffe was engaged last year to serve as consultants to the Government of Guyana for the preparation of new legislation for modernization of the Guyana laws governing interests in moveable property.

A draft of a Moveable Property Security Act, dated March 11, 2002, was prepared, and circulated on April 17, to stakeholders for comments. The next step was to invite stakeholders - creditors, past and present officials of the Deed’s Registry, members of the Guyana Bar Association and Guyana Association of Women Lawyers, accounting firms, consumer groups, trade unions, political parties and other public sector groups - to separate meetings, according to their interests, to explain the intention of the act.

This procedure was unprecedented. The meetings were held between May 5 and May 9 last year. Unfort-unately, nothing more has been heard about the proposed new legislation although it was intended to eliminate the problems now encountered.

Part V of the Draft Moveable Property Security Act deals with registration. Section 42 deals with the Registration System:

(1) A registration system, including a central office and branch offices, if any, shall be maintained for the purposes of this act and any other act that provides for registration in the registration system;

(2) The central office of the Registry shall be located at or near Georgetown.

(3) Branch offices of the Registry shall be established at such places as are designated by the regulations.

Provision is made for a registrar of the Moveable Property Registry and for branch registrars, if required.

There is also provision in Section 45 of the draft act for an assurance fund. Here are some of the clauses:

“(1) There shall be established an assurance fund known as ‘The Moveable Property Security Assur-ance Fund for the purposes hereinafter mentioned:

(2) The prescribed portion of the fees received under this act shall be paid into the assurance fund.

(3) Interest shall be credited to the assurance fund out of the Consolidated Fund at a rate to be determined from time to time by the Minister of Finance and such interest shall be made up at the close of each fiscal year upon the balance of the assurance fund at the end of the previous calendar year;

(4) Any person who suffers loss or damage as a result of the person’s reliance upon a certificate of the registrar issued under Section 45 that is incorrect because of an error or omission of the system of registration, recording and production of information under this part is entitled to be paid compensation out of the assurance fund so far as the assurance fund is sufficient for that purpose having regard to the claims which have been approved but have not been paid.”

Part IV of the draft act deals with hire-purchase and covers activities in the world of farming, but more of that at another time.

It is also necessary to remind ourselves, although with some trepidation, that the Deeds Registry Authority Act, 1999, was assented to on April 22, 1999, but was never put into effect. This act aimed at the politicization of the Deeds Registry taking it out of the domain of the Public Service Commission and placing it directly under a minister of the government.

The minister would be responsible for hiring and firing the registrar and the deputy registrar. Instead of having a piece of legislation as necessary as the Moveable Property Security Act gathering dust in a cubby hole, should we not be combining forces for the protection of consumers and insisting on action being taken?